Overview

Charles Elton recognized that the breakdown of biogeographic barriers as a consequence of transport, trade and economic globalisation will lead to unprecedented movements of biotas among continents and oceans, resulting in increased rates of invasion by alien species. For well-studied taxa such as plants and vertebrates, we are only just beginning to understand the extent to which species are becoming distributed globally, and how much biotas are becoming similar. However, a global picture including less-studied taxonomic groups such as invertebrates and pathogens is lacking.

This timely, 2-day symposium in the historic and beautiful city of Durham will bring together invasion ecologists and macroecologists, working on many different taxonomic groups, to build a global synthesis of alien species distribution and richness. The symposium will explore the major drivers behind the mixing of the world’s biotas, and the consequences for conservation of biodiversity.

A broad range of engaging, international and UK-based invited speakers will present the current state of our knowledge of alien species macroecology, and attendees will be able to submit an abstract to present their own work in this field as an oral or poster presentation. A social dinner at the end of the first day in Durham Castle will be a highlight! Breakout workshops on the second day will provide the opportunity to synthesise, and to address important questions that will provide ways forward to understanding the macroecology of alien species.

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Preliminary Programme

Monday 24 July

17:00-19:00- Registration, Welcome Mixer & Posters

Tuesday 25 July

08:00 – 08:50 – Registration
08:50 – 09:00 – Welcome Introduction
09:00 – 11:00 – Invited speaker talks
11:00 – 11:30 – Coffee break
11:30 – 13:30 – Invited speaker talks
13:30 – 14:30 – Lunch
14:30 – 15:45 – Open talks (submitted abstracts)
16:45 – 16:15 – Break
16:15 – 17:30 – Open talks (submitted abstracts)
17:30 – 19:00 – Poster session
20:00  – late   – Symposium dinner, Durham Castle

Wednesday 26 July

09:00 – 11:00 – Invited speaker talks
11:00 – 11:30 – Break
11:30 – 13:30 – Breakout workshops
13:30 – 14:30 – Lunch and posters
14:30 – 16:00 – Invited speaker talks
16:00 – 17:00 – Reconvene and wrap up workshops, poster prizes

Confirmed Speakers

Céline Bellard (Université Paris Sud, France/University College London, UK)
Tim Blackburn (University College London, UK)
Yvonne Buckley (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
Isabella Capellini (University of Hull, UK)
Robert Colautti (Queen’s University, Canada)
Alison Dunn (University of Leeds, UK)
Ellie Dyer (Zoological Society of London, UK)
Regan Early (University of Exeter, UK)
Jason Fridley (Syracuse University, USA)
Emili García-Berthou (University of Girona, Spain)
Jonathan Jeschke (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Helen Roy (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK)
Dov Sax (Brown University, USA)
Hanno Seebens (BiK-F, Germany)
Patrick Weigelt (University of Göttingen, Germany)